Matching Lavin’s Mark Would Do Dorrell Well

It would be unfair, of course, to suggest the Bruins have just hired the football equivalent to Steve Lavin, untested, fresh-faced and eager to learn on the job as a head coach at a major university, because there is no way yet to know if Karl Dorrell will be as successful as Lavin.

Fast forward six years from now, and if the Bruins finish among the top 16 teams in the nation five times in that span of time, will it be satisfactory?

By all accounts today it is a great hire, an inspired hire, because the excitement of the unknown feels so much more promising than the announcement UCLA has just hired a guy with a losing record wherever he has been the head coach.

Dorrell, meanwhile, is a former Bruin, who will be walking into familiar and friendly territory, while also becoming the fourth African American head coach working at one of the 117 Division I-A football programs in the nation.

It makes for a great story, and while no one other than the Page Two columnist can quibble with hiring a head coach at this level with training wheels still attached, your guess right now on how well he will do is probably no better or worse than the guy who just hired his first head football coach. In fact, with this hire, we’re going to learn a lot more down the road about Dan Guerrero, and the instincts that drive him.

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NOW I wouldn’t have taken Pete Carroll two years ago, even when USC appeared to have no other choice, and it’s a good thing it’s the only time I can recall being so wrong. (I have USC losing to Iowa in the Orange Bowl, and so we’re going to find out if my mistakes are only confined to what happens with the Trojans).

I probably would’ve hired Mike Riley, first at USC and now at UCLA, because I saw him at work during the best and the worst of times, and while his record is lopsided with losses, there are solid reasons why he has been in demand.

A year ago he turned down an offer from Indiana to wait for Stanford -- told by so many the job would be his -- and then it went to someone else. This time it was Alabama offering him millions, which he rejected to wait on UCLA.

But when the call came Wednesday night, it was old friend and UCLA Assistant Athletic Director Bob Field telling him Guerrero would be calling later, but to save him the indignity of learning from someone else he would not be getting the Bruins’ job, Field filled him in.

“I’m disappointed. I went after that job, wanted to be at UCLA and didn’t get it,” Riley said. “No regrets, though. I’m not sitting here now thinking I should’ve taken the Alabama job because that was a separate decision. I’m not going to make decisions any more based on money -- besides, I have a year ($750,000) left on my San Diego contract.

“I knew I was no shoo-in with UCLA when I turned Alabama down, but I was excited about the chance to coach at UCLA. But I’m good with this, and the professional way UCLA conducted this process. And from everything I’ve heard about Karl Dorrell, it’s a great hire. I wish him well.”

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WHEN GUERRERO called Denver Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan Wednesday afternoon, he was still asking questions about Dorrell and Greg Robinson, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive coordinator, who worked previously for Shanahan.

Shanahan figured UCLA was going to hire Riley because of his experience, but he continued to campaign for Dorrell and Robinson when given the chance Wednesday.

“I think Karl will be great,” said Shanahan after learning he had gotten the job. “He’s got everything you’re looking for in a coach. He’s smart, well-organized, and will go out there and recruit better than anybody. It’s a great hire for UCLA.”

But can he be successful given his lack of experience as a head coach?

“That’s a good question,” said Shanahan, who turned down an opportunity to coach the Broncos to remain in San Francisco as an assistant to gain more experience before accepting the job in Denver when it was offered again. “The big knock on me becoming a head coach was I was too nice and I couldn’t make the tough decision. Now everyone calls me an ogre.

“You don’t know how a guy is going to do until he does it, but this much I know about Karl -- he’s a worker, and I’ve watched the way he handles himself and players. I see no reason why he won’t be successful.”

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THE BRONCOS play in Oakland Sunday, and afterward, Shanahan said, he will sit down with Dorrell and advise him to leave immediately to begin work at UCLA.

“He needs to get going, hire his staff and recruit,” Shanahan said, “so I’m not going to make him stay here.

“I think you’re going to like this guy,” added Shanahan, who came to the Broncos as an untested pro assistant coach almost 20 years ago while I was covering the team on a daily basis. “I’d like to think I’m as good as you are at getting under someone’s skin, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do it with this guy.”

Now there’s a challenge ... I know this, I just hope when it’s all said and done, he has had as good a career at UCLA as Lavin has had.

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I MADE my annual visit to a Mighty Ducks’ game Wednesday, met with goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere before he played against St. Louis and told him his scoreless streak was making the sport even duller than it already is.

Then I received a call from the office that Dorrell had been hired, and maybe I should forget the Ducks.

You can imagine my disappointment ... although I see by the final score that Giguere took my advice, and put a little more excitement back into the game.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.